Moonbound Mates

Chapter Seventeen

Morning arrived quietly.

For several long seconds, Rowan remained asleep.

Warm.

Comfortable.

Safe.

The realization drifted through her consciousness slowly.

Warm.

That seemed important.

Rowan frowned slightly.

Because her bed wasn't usually warm.

Then something tightened around her waist.

Rowan froze.

Every thought in her head stopped.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

Her eyes opened.

For one horrifying second, she didn't understand what she was seeing.

Then reality arrived.

And immediately ruined everything.

Kael.

Kael was in her bed.

Not just in her bed.

His arm was wrapped around her waist.

Her face was buried against his chest.

One of her hands was curled into the front of his shirt.

His chin rested lightly against the top of her head.

Rowan stopped breathing.

The bond practically purred.

"Oh, this is nice."

"NO."

Panic exploded instantly.

Not loud panic.

The worst kind.

Silent panic.

The kind where every muscle locked up and your soul attempted to leave your body.

Rowan stared at the wall.

Then at his arm.

Then at her hand.

Then at his arm again.

What.

What.

WHAT.

At some point during the night they had apparently decided personal space was optional.

She had no memory of this.

None.

Zero.

Not even a little.

Her entire face felt like it was on fire.

Nyra sounded delighted.

"Look at us."

"We are not looking at us."

"We are cuddling."

"We are absolutely not cuddling."

"We are aggressively cuddling."

Rowan considered throwing herself out the nearest window.

Unfortunately, before she could decide how to escape—

Kael moved.

Everything inside her immediately died.

His arm tightened slightly.

Just slightly.

Sleep.

Still asleep.

Then his eyes opened.

For one peaceful second, he looked completely relaxed.

Content, even.

Then he looked down.

And saw her.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Kael froze.

Rowan froze.

Neither moved.

Neither breathed.

The bond was having the greatest day of its life.

Then—

Kael launched himself out of the bed.

Actually launched.

The blankets tangled around his legs.

The mattress bounced.

A nearby chair nearly died.

"What—"

His voice cracked.

Kael stopped speaking immediately.

Rowan was already moving.

"Nope."

The word escaped before she could stop it.

She dove off the opposite side of the bed.

Grabbed the first clothes she saw hanging from the wardrobe.

Turned.

Ran.

"Rowan—"

"Nope."

The bathroom door slammed.

The lock clicked.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Rowan pressed both hands against her face.

Her heart was trying to escape through her throat.

Outside the door—

Nothing.

No movement.

No words.

Then finally—

A long, slow exhale.

Kael.

Sounding exactly as horrified as she felt.

For some reason, that made it worse.

And better.

Simultaneously.

"Oh, this is going to be fun."

Nyra sounded unbearably pleased.

Rowan considered drowning herself in the bathtub.

The bathroom was not a long-term solution.

Rowan discovered this approximately eleven minutes later.

Because eventually she ran out of reasons to stay inside.

She was dressed.

Her hair was brushed.

She had reorganized the toiletries twice.

At one point she'd actually read the back of a shampoo bottle.

Three times.

There was nowhere left to hide.

Unfortunately, Kael was still outside.

Waiting.

Existing.

Breathing.

Probably.

Rowan groaned and rested her forehead against the door.

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

Nyra immediately disagreed.

"You were almost eaten by a bear once."

"Second worst."

The wolf seemed satisfied with that.

With all the enthusiasm of someone marching toward execution, Rowan unlocked the door.

Then slowly pulled it open.

Kael was standing by the window.

Fully dressed.

Thank the Moon Goddess.

For some reason, that helped.

A little.

Not much.

But a little.

The moment he heard the door open, he turned.

Then immediately looked away.

Rowan almost laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

Because somehow that was worse.

The Alpha King looked nervous.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then Kael cleared his throat.

"Morning."

Rowan stared at him.

"That's what we're going with?"

A faint look of relief crossed his face.

"Honestly, I didn't have a plan beyond that."

Despite everything, a laugh escaped her.

Small.

Brief.

Real.

Silence settled again.

The awkward kind.

The kind neither of them knew how to fix.

Finally—

"We should probably acknowledge it."

Rowan closed her eyes.

"No."

Kael looked almost relieved.

"Okay."

"Actually," Rowan amended, "maybe a little."

He nodded.

"Fair."

Another pause.

Then—

"I don't know how that happened."

The words came out at exactly the same time.

Both of them stopped.

Stared.

Then immediately looked away again.

"Right," Rowan muttered.

"Right."

Silence.

Then Kael rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.

"For the record..."

Rowan immediately distrusted those words.

"I wasn't trying to—"

"I know."

His mouth closed.

A second later she added,

"I wasn't either."

Kael nodded once.

"I know."

For some reason, that answer made the knot in her chest loosen slightly.

Because she believed him.

And she thought he believed her.

Neither of them knew what to do with that.

The room settled into a quieter silence.

Less panicked.

Still awkward.

Just... less catastrophic.

Then Rowan glanced toward the bed.

Immediately regretted it.

The blankets were tangled together.

A visible reminder of exactly what had happened.

Kael followed her gaze.

Both of them froze.

Again.

Then, without a word, Kael grabbed one side.

Rowan grabbed the other.

And together they started aggressively making the bed.

Like two people attempting to erase physical evidence from a crime scene.

Neither acknowledged this.

Neither acknowledged anything.

When they finished, they stepped back simultaneously.

The bed looked perfect.

Untouched.

Innocent.

Neither believed it for a second.

A knock sounded at the door.

Both of them jumped.

Hard.

The knock came again.

Then—

"Oh good."

Lyra.

Both of them closed their eyes.

"You're awake."

A pause.

Then, suspiciously cheerful—

"Why do I feel like something happened?"

____

The walk to breakfast was awkward.

Painfully awkward.

Rowan walked beside Lyra while Kael walked on her other side, and somehow that made everything worse.

Every time she became aware of him beside her, her mind immediately supplied the memory of waking up tangled together beneath the blankets.

Gods.

She was never going to recover from this.

Beside her, Kael looked equally uncomfortable.

Which was both reassuring and horrifying.

Lyra, unfortunately, noticed everything.

"You both look exhausted."

"We are," Rowan muttered.

Lyra's eyes narrowed.

Interesting.

Kael sighed.

"Don't."

"I haven't said anything."

"You were about to."

"I was."

The honesty was deeply unhelpful.

They reached the dining room.

Rowan was halfway through sitting down when Lyra spoke again.

"So."

"There it is," Rowan said.

Lyra looked pleased.

"I've been waiting."

"No. You've been plotting."

"That's fair."

Kael pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Lyra."

"What?"

"Leave her alone."

"I am leaving her alone."

Nobody believed that.

Breakfast arrived.

For a few glorious minutes, there was peace.

Rowan had almost convinced herself Lyra might let it go.

Then Lyra set down her cup.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

The way predators probably approached wounded prey.

"How was last night?"

There it was.

Direct.

No escape route.

Rowan stabbed a piece of fruit.

"It was fine."

Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"Fine?"

"Yes."

"That's not an answer."

"It is absolutely an answer."

"It's a suspicious answer."

Rowan considered throwing the fruit at her.

"I had a nightmare."

The teasing faded slightly from Lyra's expression.

"A bad one?"

Rowan nodded.

"And?"

Rowan pointed her fork at her.

"If I answer, will you stop asking questions?"

"No."

"At least you're honest."

Across the table, Kael looked like he regretted ever introducing the two of them.

Rowan almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

"He slept next to me."

Silence.

Lyra blinked.

Then blinked again.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Nothing else happened?"

"Lyra."

"I'm checking."

"There is nothing to check."

A grin spread across Lyra's face.

"I knew it."

Rowan immediately regretted speaking.

"Knew what?"

"The second I met you."

"Lyra."

"I did."

Her smile softened.

Not teasing now.

Not entirely.

Just honest.

"I knew you were the one for him."

Silence.

A strange silence.

The kind that made Rowan's stomach drop before she even understood why.

Slowly, she turned.

Evelyn stood in the doorway.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Evelyn's gaze moved from Lyra to Kael.

Then to Rowan.

Understanding settled across her features.

Not anger.

Not jealousy.

Just hurt.

A quiet kind of hurt.

The sort that came from hearing something you wished you hadn't.

Then she smiled.

Perfectly.

Gracefully.

Painfully.

"Oh."

The single word was soft.

Almost gentle.

"I'm sorry."

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Evelyn folded her hands neatly in front of her.

"I didn't mean to interrupt."

Her eyes lingered briefly on Kael.

Just long enough for Rowan to notice.

Then she stepped back.

"Enjoy your breakfast."

And turned away.

The smile never slipped.

Which somehow made everything worse.

The room remained silent after she left.

Across the table, Lyra looked stricken.

Kael pushed back his chair and stood.

"Great job, Lyra."

She flinched.

The disappointment in his voice hurt more than anger would have.

"Kael, I—"

"You've wanted me to find my mate for years."

It wasn't a question.

Lyra looked down.

"I know."

"I know you've wanted that since we were kids."

His expression softened briefly.

Then hardened again.

"But this isn't a celebration for everyone."

Silence.

Kael rubbed a hand across his face.

Suddenly looking tired.

"People's lives are changing because of this."

Lyra swallowed.

"And some of them didn't ask for it."

His gaze drifted toward the doorway Evelyn had disappeared through.

"Including Evelyn."

The words settled heavily over the table.

For once, Lyra had nothing to say.

Kael sighed.

"Just think about that."

Then he turned and walked away.

Leaving Rowan and Lyra alone with the weight of it.